


seven days and seven boxes (a collection of mementos)

by WattStalf



Series: Baccano Week 2016 [5]
Category: Baccano!
Genre: Baccano Week 2016, F/M, general ladd and lua warnings, this is irredeemably cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7858492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Don't open it until I'm gone, okay? And don't open everything in there at once- you'll see what I mean. Ya gotta make it last until I get back.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	seven days and seven boxes (a collection of mementos)

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Emotion  
> This is really fucking cheesy, really sickly sweet, lots of my stupid headcanons surfacing in here, blahblahblah. Taken from an OTP prompt blog on tumblr somewhere, imagine your OTP, person A is going on a trip and gives person B a box of mementos to open.

“I'll only be gone for a week,” he says, “and I promise, it'll feel like no time!” She's used to Ladd leaving her by herself; he doesn't like to endanger her anymore than necessary, so she's often home alone, waiting for him to return, but the longest he's ever had to leave her for is overnight. This will be the first time he's been gone for so long, and even though she tries to hide it, he can tell that Lua is uneasy.

“And, listen, you know I'll call every chance I get!” he adds. “And of course you don't have to worry, I'll have plenty of the guys around to make sure you're protected. _Nothing_ is going to happen to you while I'm gone! If that's what you're worried about, I mean.”

That's part of it, she supposes, but more than that, it's just the fact that there will be so many nights without him, so many days that she has to fill without his help, and even if she doesn't mind being alone sometimes, to be separated from Ladd for that long...she just knows that she is going to miss him more than she can possibly say. She knows he will miss her as well, that it's going to drive him crazy not getting to see her and not having her at his side for that long.

Finally, he sighs and hugs her, murmuring in her ear, “You know I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, so please stop giving me that look! You're gonna make it way too hard for me to say goodbye tomorrow if you don't. Besides, I have a surprise for you, so hopefully that'll cheer you up a little bit. You can't die from a broken heart, but I still don't want to take any risks with you!”

She quietly gasps, wondering what sort of surprise it could be. Usually, Ladd isn't very good at keeping quiet about things, and has spoiled his fair share of surprises in the past, so the fact that he's got something planned for her that he hasn't said yet is impressive. She's almost tempted to ask him what it is, but knowing how bad he is at keeping secrets, she's certain he would break and tell her almost immediately, and she does want to let herself be surprised.

That night, she holds tight to him while falling asleep, not wanting to miss out on a single second of closeness before he leaves.

~X~

The next morning, Lua is more quiet and more withdrawn than usual, dreading the moment when Ladd finally has to depart. They eat breakfast together and he talks on and on and on, as if trying to make up for the conversation that will be lost when he is away, and she tries her best to listen, but all she can think about is how quiet and empty the kitchen will seem when she's eating her meals by herself. She never thought she would ever get so attached to a person that she would miss them this much.

“Do you want your surprise now?” he asks, while helping her clear away the dishes. She hasn't forgotten about it, and she nods, growing excited despite herself. Even if it is just a surprise to make up for how long he's going to be gone, she's still sure that it will be something nice, as it always is with him.

He leaves the room and returns with a large box, wrapped up incredibly slopping with a ribbon tied on in what she thinks is supposed to be a box. She takes it from him but he stops her when she starts to open it, saying, “Don't open it until I'm gone, okay? And don't open everything in there at once- you'll see what I mean. Ya gotta make it last until I get back.”

“Alright,” she says, wondering what on earth could be inside that he didn't want her opening it while he was still around. She leaves the box on the table so that they can properly say their goodbyes, and when she hugs him, she wonders what might happen if she just refuses to let go of him, but when he leans down to kiss her for just a little bit longer than usual, she knows that he's having just as hard of a time as she is, and that she shouldn't do anything to make leaving any harder on him than it already is.

~X~

When Ladd finally manages to pull himself away from her and leave, she takes a few moments to let the silence descend around her, to remember just how empty it always feels when he isn't home. She's going to have to get used to this over the course of the week. Her gaze travels the empty kitchen until it lands on the box on the table, and she decides to open it.

Tearing at the wrapping paper and opening the box, she discovers several more packages inside, all wrapped just as sloppily. She smiles to herself at that, and notices the numbers written on them, assuming that they are meant to indicate what day she should open each gift on. Lua selects the first one and sets the main box aside, opening this one up and looking at the gift inside.

It's a new puzzle, and a few tubes of paint, all colors that she has been running low on. There is a note, written in Ladd's familiar, nearly illegible handwriting, that reads  _This should at least keep you entertained for the afternoon!_ Lua takes her time with it and ends up taking a half hour to solve it, and the picture she paints is a bit more detailed that she is used to.

She hesitates for a moment and then decides that she is going to leave it for now. Until he gets back, anyway, because she wants Ladd to see the picture before she breaks it.

~X~

Falling asleep alone is difficult, but she manages, and the next morning, she wakes up early, excited to see what the second gift is. The box is smaller than the one from the day before, and inside, she finds a necklace box with a string of pearls inside. The note from Ladd reads,  _It was really hard getting enough of the old pearls back together, so there are some new ones, but this is mostly your favorite necklace! Sorry it got broken!_

At that, she nearly tears up, or comes as close to tears as she has in a long time- not counting when he left, of course. Her favorite necklace was damaged on one of his more enthusiastic outings, and she doesn't know when he would have had the time to get back and search for all the pearls that had fallen, but somehow he did and had them restrung for her. He wouldn't seem the sentimental type at a glance, but as she puts on the necklace, she realizes that he's the most sentimental person she's ever met.

She makes a mental note to make sure that she's wearing the necklace when he gets home, but she's sure she's going to end up wearing it every day between now and then anyway.

~X~

On the third day by herself, she realizes that the gifts, while making their time apart a little bit easier, are also making time go by more slowly for her. She gets so excited to open the third present that it feels like an eternity before she finally has the chance, but when she does, she finds it to be just as worth the wait as the previous two.

The box is a clothing box, and she wonders if it's a new outfit for her that he wants to see her in when he comes home. However, when she opens it, she finds one of his old suit coats, a light gray one that is worn and stained, one that she would probably insist he not wear anymore if she found it while sorting through their closet. Bringing it close to her face, she inhales and finds that it still carries the scent that is so entirely _Ladd_ , the scent that brings her comfort even when he's far away like this, the scent that she could never find anywhere else.

His note says that he hopes the smell hasn't faded yet and that it's not too uncomfortable for her to sleep in, and she does wear it to sleep that night, and when she dreams, she dreams that he's still right there with her.

~X~

The fourth box isn't that big, but it's rather heavy, and inside of it is an unloaded handgun- the note makes sure to specify that it's unloaded, and that it always has been. She recognizes it, of course, the one that he sometimes keeps on their nightstand, the one that he uses with her, to tease her about what's to come.

_It's the same one I always use_ , he says,  _and you can do whatever you want with it while I'm gone!_ She can feel her face flushing, remembering all the times before, and perhaps she would scold him for such a lewd gift if he were there.

~X~

On the fifth day, she sleeps in because of a late night, but she hurries to get ready when she wakes and remembers that she has another box to open. This one is about the same size as the first, but it's so light that she might think it was empty, if she couldn't hear something moving around inside of it, sounding like a lot of small pieces. Is it another puzzle?

She tears off the paper, but it isn't a puzzle box, just an ordinary one, and when she opens that, she finds the source of the noise. It isn't a new puzzle, but there are puzzle pieces, a jumble of colorful bits, some bent up and some a little torn. In addition to that, there are flowers that appear to have been pressed, and she takes out the note to read what it says.

Ladd has always liked to buy fresh flowers for her to wear in her hair when they got out, but she was not aware that he was saving them and pressing them in the large encyclopedias that neither of them ever read. And he has always been the one to clean up after her once she's finished with one of her puzzles, but she was unaware that he was storing the pieces somewhere.

_Whenever I'm not with you, I keep one of the old flowers in my pocket, so I thought I could show you the rest of my collection, and your paintings are too goddamn pretty to just throw away._ She wonders if she could make some sort of collage with these mementos that he treasures so much, but she decides it would be better to ask him before using his collection in such a way.

~X~

On the sixth morning, she's surprised that the week, while going by so slowly, has almost come to an end. He's supposed to arrive home the next afternoon, and when he called her the day before, he said that he shouldn't have any delays. It was only the second chance he'd had to call her, and both times he hadn't been able to talk long, but just getting to hear his voice was pleasant. Neither of them have mentioned the gifts yet.

Today's gift is in a small, flat package, and she can tell that it's a record before she even opens it. The note is inside the sleeve, telling her that he hopes she doesn't mind having to dance by herself, but that, if she likes the song, he promises he will dance to it with her as soon as possible. She isn't a very experienced dancer, and most of what she knows she's learned from him, but she spends the entire afternoon swaying around the living room, starting the record over and over and over again as she tries to choreograph something for the both of them.

The song sticks in her head when she tries to fall asleep that night, but it isn't all that annoying. Ladd knows her taste in music very well.

~X~

Ladd is supposed to arrive by the afternoon of the seventh day, and she wakes up early to see what sort of present he has for her in the final box. It's small, like the necklace box, but not nearly as long and very light. She hesitates for a moment, because this is the very last present, but then she tells herself that it's okay, that she's going to get to see Ladd soon, and he won't be leaving her for so many days for a very long time. There's no point in trying to save this one and so she rips off the paper.

It is a brand new necktie, a simple red one, only opened once and only so that Ladd could put the note inside. She doesn't even need to read the note to understand the gift, however; she has always loved to help him get dressed in the morning, and she particularly loves knotting his ties at his throat and the sort of intimacy that comes from that, and naturally, he'll want to change clothes when he gets home. When he does, she looks forward to helping him with his new tie, before they dance to the record he bought her while he tells her stories of his trip.

As it turns out, the note doesn't even bother explaining the tie, because he must have known that she would understand instantly. Instead, it says,  _If you didn't cheat with opening boxes earlier, then I'll be seeing you soon, angel._ She smiles and holds the note close to her for a moment before going to get her pearls on and wait for him. The puzzle she solved on the first day is still sitting on the table.

 


End file.
